How the Barrels Affect the Flavor

Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

CommentGo Back

Download

www.LovingWine.com

How the Barrels Affect the Flavour

Years ago, English oak was the main wood coopers used to make barrels for winefermentation. Once wine growing became more commercially viable, they became soshort in supply that other woods were considered and eventually used. When oak barrels became scarce in the US years ago, redwood was eventually used instead. Oak from the United States is now used as well as French oak. Winemakers havetraditionally used oak barrels for fermentation because of the subtle flavor imparted tothe wine as well as the tannin content. Soaking in an oak barrel adds subtle notes of cracked black pepper, vanilla or cloves to the wine. Intentional flavors such aschocolate, coffee and vanilla come from aging in the oak barrels rather than thenatural flavor of the grape.California winemakers prefer a long time in toasted oak barrels for their Chardonnays,though some feel that it is overdone, causing that intense vanilla flavor to disappearfrom the tongue quickly once swallowed. Some wine-lovers prefer to buy theirChardonnay from Chablis, Burgundy because it is not stored in the barrels for quite solong. This tends to produce a crisper, fruitier flavor that lingers enticingly in the back of the throat well after the glass is emptied.For a truer expression of the grape flavor, Australia and New Zealand prefer to usestainless steel tanks for fermentation. Wines fermented in this manner are consideredby many to have ‘fruit forward’ characteristic – in other words the taste is truer to thefruit used in the making of them.Home winemakers who cannot ferment their wine in an oaken barrel often use oak chips to try and emulate the flavor of oak barrels. This is considered a viablealternative, yet somehow it is not quite the same. Oak barrels used in the traditionalway have something unique and special to add to wine flavor that is impossible toreproduce perfectly any other way.Some wines, such as red Bordeaux, spend at least two years in new wooden barrels orcasks, then more years in a bottle to mature; others, such as vintage port, need verylittle time in the barrel but years in the bottle. Some Italian and Spanish wines matureentirely in the cask and are ready to drink as soon as they are bottled. Wooden barrelsmust be changed about every five years to prevent disease and mold forming in thewines.

of 00

Leave a Comment